Tom McClintock on Tax Reform

2004 former Republican Challenger CA Governor

Make permanent the Bush tax cuts

Reducing the burden of taxes on our families and businesses is the way to spur growth in our economy. We need to make permanent the Bush tax cuts of 2003 so that our families and businesses are not faced with the prospect of a tax increase in the
near future. We need to restore the freedom to our businesses to grow and expand their own companies; a strong economy is built on freedom

Repeal car tax by reducing government waste & duplication

Q: If you repeal the recent car tax increase, how would you make up the $4 billion in revenue?

McCLINTOCK: It is not hard to find waste in a state budget of a state spending as much as California and produces as little.
Simply restoring the state government the same freedom that every family and business has to shop around for the best service at the lowest price, we would save about $9 billion across all departments.
Streamlining the agencies duplicating federal functions, there is another $67 billion of savings there. Simply conforming our workers’ compensation law to Arizona’s, it would lift a burden from the job sector,
[and provide] $2.5 billion dollar of direct savings. If you look at Gov. Pat’s Browns last year in office when the state provided service, he spent an inflation-adjusted dollar less than half of what is being spent right now to do all of that.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek
, Sep 3, 2003

Voted NO on 2003-04 California state budget

Mark my words: this budget solves nothing. It sets in motion still bigger deficits to come. The day that it is signed will be the first day of the budget crisis of 2004.

Began push to abolish ‘Car Tax’ in 1998

When I began the drive to abolish California’s car tax in 1998, one of the more interesting aspects of the polling was that registered Democrats favored getting rid of the tax as much as Republicans. And all voters were convinced that a Democrat
would be more prone than a Republican to favor abolition “because it would help working families like mine.” How ironic that having come safely through the election, the first major act of the legislature’s Democrats was to triple the car tax.

Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes.

Politicians often run for office saying they won't raise taxes, but then quickly turn their backs on the taxpayer. The idea of the Pledge is simple enough: Make them put their no-new-taxes rhetoric in writing.

In the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. While ATR has the role of promoting and monitoring the Pledge, the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is actually made to a candidate's constituents, who are entitled to know where candidates stand before sending them to the capitol. Since the Pledge is a prerequisite for many voters, it is considered binding as long as an individual holds the office for which he or she signed the Pledge.

Since its rollout with the endorsement of President Reagan in 1986, the pledge has become de rigeur for Republicans seeking office, and is a necessity for Democrats running in Republican districts.

No European-style VAT (value-added tax).

Whereas a value-added tax (VAT) is a type of sales tax that is assessed on goods at every stage of production;

Whereas a VAT is a hidden tax that is ultimately passed along to consumers, but is embedded into the price of goods and services and therefore not transparent to the consumer;

Whereas the average tax burden levied by the Federal Government since 1980 has been 18% of GDP;

Whereas, within the next 15 years, Federal taxes are projected to rise to the highest level in US history;

Whereas adding a VAT on top of the existing Federal income tax would increase the burden on United States taxpayers to unprecedented levels;

Whereas the average VAT rate in Europe has risen from 5% when the tax was first introduced in the 1960s to 20% today;

Whereas European countries that have imposed a VAT have seen their total tax burden rise to an average of over 40% of GDP;

Whereas such high levels of
taxation and spending crowd out private investment, which stifles economic growth and leads to chronically high levels of unemployment;

Whereas the IRS has calculated that US taxpayers spend approximately $200 billion and 7.6 billion hours a year to comply with Federal tax laws;

Whereas a VAT would only add another layer of complexity and compliance costs to a fundamentally unsound tax system;

Whereas the burden of a VAT would fall most heavily on low-income and middle-class Americans; and

Whereas a VAT would do nothing to restore fiscal accountability in Washington, but would simply bankroll wasteful and inefficient Federal Government spending:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That--

It is the sense of the House of Representatives that imposing a value-added tax would be a massive tax increase that would cripple families on fixed income and only further push back the US economic recovery; and

Supports the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

McClintock signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge against raising taxes

[The ATR, Americans for Tax Reform, run by conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist, ask legislators to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in each election cycle. Their self-description:]

In the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. Since its rollout in 1986, the pledge has become de rigeur for Republicans seeking office, and is a necessity for Democrats running in Republican districts. Today the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is offered to every candidate for state office and to all incumbents. More than 1,100 state officeholders, from state representative to governor, have signed the Pledge.

The Taxpayer Protection Pledge: "I pledge to the taxpayers of my district and to the American people that I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar
for dollar by further reducing tax rates."

Opponents' Opinion (from wikipedia.com):In Nov. 2011, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) claimed that Congressional Republicans "are being led like puppets by Grover Norquist. They're giving speeches that we should compromise on our deficit, but never do they compromise on Grover Norquist. He is their leader." Since Norquist's pledge binds signatories to opposing deficit reduction agreements that include any element of increased tax revenue, some Republican deficit hawks now retired from office have stated that Norquist has become an obstacle to deficit reduction. Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, has been particularly critical, describing Norquist's position as "no taxes, under any situation, even if your country goes to hell."